50 Forgotten Stories: The Two Bob Millers

In October of 1984, the LA Kings inked center Bob Miller to a one-year contract.
That's right, center Bob Miller.
This Bob Miller would play 65 games for Los Angeles that season, primarily in a checking role.
For Hall of Fame announcer Bob Miller, then in his 12th year with the Kings, it wasn't odd at all to call his own name, "I didn't mispronounce his name. That's the good thing."
But what was awkward were the road trips.

"I'd be getting his messages. He'd be getting mine," sighed Miller. "It was really mixed up in the hotels where they had two people on the same team by the same name."
The two Bob Millers would often ask each other, "Hey, I got your message here. Did the guy get ahold of you?"
That season would conclude center Bob Miller's six-year NHL career, which included a 20-goal campaign with the Boston Bruins. But the mix-ups haven't stopped.
"Since he's retired, every once in a while, I get a letter from someone with the other Bob Miller's hockey card, asking me to sign it for them," chuckled the Hall of Famer. "I suppose I could and they wouldn't know the difference. But I usually send it back and say that Bob is living in New England and the Boston Bruins would have a way to contact him."
Talking about the other Bob Miller made the Kings announcer recall another Bob Miller.
"My favorite baseball player in the '50s was Bob Miller. He was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. They won the pennant in 1950]. In fact, he was 8-0, his first eight starts.
"I went up to Wrigley Field [as a 12-year-old], which was quite a trip for me because I was from the South Side of Chicago, just to get his autograph. I've got it here somewhere.
"I had no other connection to Philadelphia. That was it. I thought, 'Oh, good. I'll be a fan of his … as long as he keeps winning.'"
**Bob's First Partner**
All of Miller's partners enjoyed multi-year runs in the Kings broadcast booth -- except his first partner, Jim Minnick.
"He and I both started at the same time," remembered Miller.
"We were in Vancouver [in December], and I got a call from [then-LA Kings owner Jack Kent
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Sheng Peng is a freelance hockey writer based out of Los Angeles, California. He covers the LA Kings and Ontario Reign for HockeyBuzz. His work has also appeared on VICE Sports, The Hockey News, and SB Nation's Jewels from the Crown.